People make too much of a big deal out of the numbers. Some look at his total stats and conclude that he's a stud. Others look at his second half performance and conclude he's a dud.

The best way to analyze Willis is to watch him yourself. How's his fastball? How's his breaking ball? Does he have a good command of his pitches? Does he have a strong mound presence? Any other intangibles?

Personally, I don't think his fastball is that great - low 90's if I recall. He does have that funky delivery but that only takes you so far. I do like his mound presence though. Overall, I think he'll be fine to own as your 4th starter but he won't be anything spectacular during his career.

Something people forget about Carl Everett - because he's just so freaking nuts - is that he is very injury prone. And he'll be traveling a lot this year and will be playing a lot of games on turf. He's a near lock to spend some time on the DL this year. Grab Willis and don't look back.

I'm not convinced about him but I will reserve total judgement until season end.

With that funky action he is a difficult proposition when hitters see him for the first time so it will be interesting to see if that is a factor when hitters get more familiar with it during his second year.

Hope he proves to be the business because he seems like a great kid with a real mature head on his shoulders.

When you're right no one remembers, when you're wrong no one forgets - NZF